Forestry and Recreation Cornmission
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State of New Hampshire BIENNIAL REPORT of the Forestry and Recreation Cornmission 1947 - 1948 I I I Paper or canoe birch — the State Tree of New Hampshire. eftozi To His Excellency, the Governor, and the Honorable Council: The Forestry and Recreation Commission submits herewith its report for the two fiscal years ending June 30, 1948. This contains a record of the activities of the two divisions, and brief accounts of re lated agencies prepared by the State Forester and Director of Recre ation and their staffs. As use of the state forests, reservations and recreational areas increased during the post-war period of prosperity and desire for more and more people to travel, these years have called for an expansion of facilities and developments aimed at meeting the demand. Services to private forest owners have also risen greatly, and the disastrous fire season of 1947 has placed severe strains on the forest fire protec tive organization. In spite of the problems, and difficulties en countered, the period has been characterized by an endeavor to satisfy public needs for our varied services. W. ROBINSON BROWN, HARRY K. ROGERS, OWEN JOHNSON, RANDALL E. SPALDING, CHARLEs’ E. GREENMAN, Forestry and Recreation Commission. JOHN H. FOSTER, State Forester RUSSELL B. TOBEY, Director of Recreation i IN MEMORIAM ELPHEGE J. COUTURE 1903-1949 The Forestry and Recreation Commission regrets to record the passing on January 28, 1949 of Mr. E. J. Couture, who has rendered outstanding service to the state for 30 years as administrative assistant in charge of forest fire prevention and control. Not only did he carry on the exacting forest fire details of the office, but by attendance at meetings of the County Forest Fire Wardens Associa tions and otherwise, he maintained a personal contact with town fire wardens, and other members of the fire organization throughout the state. His friendship was esteemed by them all. His unselfish devo tion to the work of the Commission was without equal, and his long experience and familiarity with all aspects of forest fire administra tion make his loss irreparable. -‘ rj TABLE OF CONTENTS REPORT TO GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL 5 REPORT OF FORESTRY DIVISION 6 Forest Protection Forest Fire Prevention and Control 7 White Pine Blister Rust Control 25 Forest Insects and Diseases . 31 Public Forests State Forests and Reservations 34 State Forest Operations 47 Forest Management Program 50 Town Forests 52 White Mountain National Forest 54 State Forest Nursery 55 Private Forestry County Forestry Program 58 Registered Arborists 63 District Forest Advisory Boards 65 Forest Products Cut 1946 and 1947 67 Forest Survey tf New Hampshire 70 Forest Research 73 Revision of Laws 1947 75 Forestry Division Appropriations 76 REPORT OF RECREATION DIVISION 1 Director’s Introduction 3 State Park Operations 9 State Park Maintenance 19 Franconia Notch State Reservation 27 Statistical— Capital Expenditures 31 Fiscal Report for 1947 32 Fiscal Report for 1948 33 Franconia Notch—Fiscal Report 1947-48 34 Recreation Division Fiscal Summary 34 _________ (1 4 •; t -.- f- ‘S — e - ‘f - — :‘I. •t•1 ,-s: -J: ;. bV ; - 4 .4 • ‘.-S. • S. 3 4 4 •: ,:‘ • -- •: .-; -- -S...- 4-., .-: -‘ • z:•-’. ‘: 5-- -( --- • -; -‘-•-- 5- . t -5’.. St. 11 5- -S. •• -‘- -.4cfl5’ .. - ‘ .-‘ ..-‘ r -i r ç.:’ -- -5.--J4 -.tj__-. C •-: f;-’- C :--J C CID C —S ** 3% ;jQ’ ‘(1I511() .5 I “SI. FOREST FIRE CONTROL Review of Fire Conditions—1946-1947 HE hot clear weather which ended the fiscal year 1945-1946 continued into July, 1946, culminating in a series of fires T throughout the state by mid-July. Most of these were kept small. Fires in the Air Force Bombing Range in New Boston resulting from the use of practice rockets burned a considerable area, necessitating the use of troops from Grenier Field to hold the fires in the bounds of the range. Other large fires included Wakefield (55 acres), Laconia (40 acres) and Sanbornton (60 acres). Rain on July 21st ended the dry period and only a few fires occurred during the balance of that season. One of these was a 30-acre fire in Deerfield on October 17, 1946. The winter of 1946-47 was open and mild with snow melting early in March. However, damp weather kept down the fires until April 10th. Then hot, dry westerly winds dried the pine, hardwood and grassland areas in the southern part of the state. Three fires oc curred in Nashua totalling 254 acres and a series of fires took place in Peiham and Hudson with evidence indicating roadside incendiarism. A 4-inch snowfall on April 20th ended the period with a brief return to dry conditions in mid-May. On May 11-12th a hot, dry, southwest wind blew fires out of control in grass and slash lands in southern New Hampshire with a 640-acre slash fire in Chesterfield, a 20-acre slash fire in Richmond and Swanzey and a 30-acre fire in Hudson. Fires starting along the railroad in Pittsfield burned 212 acres threatening several sets of farm buildings. Cooler and damp weather then prevailed until the latter part of June. Rainfall exceeded the normal by 1.84 inches for that month. Temperatures rose sharply the last week in June and continued through July with frequent thun derstorms and generally humid conditions. Seven thunderstorms were observed on 15 days during the month with an exceptionally pro longed one on July 6th which produced 1.19 inches of rainfall. August was hot and humid but with only one rainy day on the 16th. Maximum temperature records of long standing were broken on the 14th, 24th and 26th and the month closed with a deficiency of 2.36 inches of rain fall. An unusual number of lightning fires were reported in July, while the influx of tourists, campers and berry-pickers resulted in a comparatively large number of fires from smoking and camp fires. Fires burned slowly however and these were kept small. September was a quiet month in regard to fires. The hot weather continued until mid-month; then it became exceptionally cool. New minimum temperature records were established on the 27th, 28th and 29th with readings at Concord of 22°, 21°, and 25° respectively. I F— 1 10 N. H. FORESTRY AND RECREATION COMMISSION heroic measures. The same was true of a 500-acre fire in Newton which crossed over into Massachusetts. At Newbury the lines were held until early evening when fire broke out south along the ridge. Nearly 7,500 acres burned over in New Hampshire on that day. Gov ernor Dale strengthened the woods closure by recommending the closIng of little-used town roads and instituting town patrols. LARGER FIRES OF OCTOBER, 1947 v Date Acres Location Discovered Cause Burned Damage Cost Peterborough October 7 Smoking 12 $60 $706.00 Dalton “ 12 Smoking 12 200 491.70 Salem “ 13 Smoking 10 300 43.85 Winchester “ 13 Smoking 100 500 2,074.14 Wentworth “ 13 Camp fire 40 200 11,900.26 Salem “ 14 Burning brush 40 250 362.84 Barnstead “ 14 Smoking 70 260 1,184.43 Hudson “ 14 Smoking 53 160 2,343.66 Newbury-Goshen “ 21 Lightning 2,125 8,350 54,028.11 Goshen “ 21 Smoking 150 610 2,217.24 Hampstead-Atkinson “ 21 Tractor 400 3,100 6,830.08 Peiham “ 21 Smoking 35 175 1,210.45 Allenstown “ 21 Railroad 9 40 1,348.69 Wakefield “ 21 Smoking 700 20,550 21,039.37 Farmington-Rochester “ 21 Railroad 7,333 34,100 35,767.68 Madison-Freedom “ 21 Smoking 375 3,290 7,076.00 Sandwich “ 21 Lightning 80 800 12,778.69 Plymouth “ 22 Smoking 40 400 3,917.88 Strafford “ 22 Smoking 50 500 2,383.10 Freedom-Efllngham “ 23 Smoking 1,225 161,200 23,064.00 Salem-Atkinson “ 23 Smoking 1,518 11,500 6,575.63 Newton “ 23 Smoking 600 3,400 3,512.11 Frnnconia “ 23 Smoking 35 350 1,335.50 Fitzwilliam-Troy “ 23 Smoking 150 2,510 4,199.70 Peterborough-Sharon “ 26 Incendiary 15 124 3,034.08 Barrington “ 28 Smoking 65 120 458.19 The National Guard was alerted and mobilized to help out in the fire areas with communications, fire fighting, and controlling traffic. The number of new fires immediately dropped and by the week’s end all fires were brought under control and held until the rains came on V October 29th. The woods closure was lifted from Coos County Octo ber 31st and after 2.89 inches of rain fell on November 8th the rest of the state woods were opened on November 9th. The 1948 Season The year 1947 ended with -4.57 inches accumulated departure from normal precipitation. The winter of 1947-1948 had a total of 87.9 inches of snow which in precipitation amounted to only 6.19 inches of rain; this V resulted in further increasing the existing deficit by 2.84 inches. The snow held on until early April, then melted very quickly. Streamfiow dropped rapidly and dry conditions prevailed throughout the state, especially in the north central part. REPORT OF FORESTRY DIVISION 11 On March 31st a fire in Easton burned 35 acres. This was followed on April 5th by fires burning 25 acres in Milan and 45 acres in Nashua. Such fires in the northern area so early in the spring are unprecedented. On April 24th, 150 acres burned before a brisk wind in Wakefield and on the 26th Lisbon had a 75-acre fire. Sixty acres burned on Fall Mountain in Walpole. In early May, fires in Lebanon and Rumney each burned 20 acres. There, were many small fires during this period in the southern part of the state.